The Pelicans' situation has been unstable ever since the franchise relocated from Charlotte in 2002, and especially since Katrina. This excruciating state of limbo unfortunately defines the Pelicans. It's difficult to say where they belong.

You get the sense Ralph Sampson, if he had been designed by NASA engineers rather than a cruel god, still would have ended up as one of the great Yeah, But guys of his generation: an immensely gifted, lightly snakebitten antecedent to Vince Carter and Chris Webber.

nate33 wrote:Utah is going to need some forwards though. They have a payroll of $106M if they keep Favors, $90M if they let him go. I could see them letting Favors go and making a run at Paul Millsap. They'll also need a backup center they can count on, but those guys are a dime-a-dozen.

Utah overpaid but it's really just the bench that's their problem, and their willingness to spend to round out the team and maybe keep it together. I doubt they let Favors go. It doesn't create enough cap space for them to really get anyone worthwhile, not that any major free agent would join them anyway, and gives them a smaller MLE. Gobert, Favors, Ingles, Mitchell and Conley might be the best SL in the league next season depending on where Kawhi signs. The Jazz bench is basically empty, though. Exum and Neto won't cut it. If they find someone good willing to sign with them for the MLE, they'd be well positioned to take advantage of the Warriors' injuries out west. That's historically been a pretty tough sell in Utah, though.

Memphis has traded guard Mike Conley to the Utah Jazz for Grayson Allen, Kyle Korver and Jae Crowder, the 23rd pick in Thursday's Draft and a future first-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 19, 2019

Good deal for both IMO.

Utah is going to need some forwards though. They have a payroll of $106M if they keep Favors, $90M if they let him go. I could see them letting Favors go and making a run at Paul Millsap. They'll also need a backup center they can count on, but those guys are a dime-a-dozen.

If they let Favors go, they could probably get Mirotic and Dedmon for 18-19 million.

Bickerstaff: who's up for kickball?!!Ed Wood: Only if it's the no-pants variety.

nate33 wrote:Utah is going to need some forwards though. They have a payroll of $106M if they keep Favors, $90M if they let him go. I could see them letting Favors go and making a run at Paul Millsap. They'll also need a backup center they can count on, but those guys are a dime-a-dozen.

Utah overpaid but it's really just the bench that's their problem, and their willingness to spend to round out the team and maybe keep it together. I doubt they let Favors go. It doesn't create enough cap space for them to really get anyone worthwhile, not that any major free agent would join them anyway, and gives them a smaller MLE. Gobert, Favors, Ingles, Mitchell and Conley might be the best SL in the league next season depending on where Kawhi signs. The Jazz bench is basically empty, though. Exum and Neto won't cut it. If they find someone good willing to sign with them for the MLE, they'd be well positioned to take advantage of the Warriors' injuries out west. That's historically been a pretty tough sell in Utah, though.

Good point. It might bet better to keep Favors and then use the MLE on more forward depth.

It seems like everyone wants to use the MLE to add forward depth. It must be nice to be a guy like Kelly Oubre in this offseason. He may not be that good, but the supply/demand dynamics dictate that he'll get a healthy new contract.

Rafael122 wrote:Celtics went from controlling the East for the next 5 years to treadmill really quickly. I love the NBA.

I wonder what the Celtics would have done with #8 pick in 2018 had they not traded for Kyrie. Perhaps they would have ended up with Mikal Bridges or SGA which would have put them in a much better position. And they got to the conference finals anyways with Kyrie in 2018.

The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has acquired a conditional 2024 second-round draft pick and cash considerations from the Miami Heat in exchange for the 44th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, it was announced today. – via NBA.com

I mean I don't think they over paid. Korver is over the hill. Crowder is decent. Allen might get good and that's a late round pick in a weaker draft? Not a bad get but idk they are a stud point guard away from being a real problem in the west and everyone is going all in with GS and KD off the board for next season

Ruzious wrote:I can't imagine the Bucks not matching an offer starting at 18 mil, and I think they're prepared to pay more than that. Brogdon's just too important for Milwaukee to let go.

What about $23M? Their payroll is already $77M before counting Middleton, Brogdon and Lopez. If Middleton costs $30M and Lopez $10M, are they going to want to $7M into the luxtax to retain Brogdon? (I guess this is why they're trying to move Ilyasova.)

Correct. Ilyasova's a quality player with a reasonable contract, so he's tradable. But I'm guessing what they really want to do is trade Snell and their first to Cleveland for JR Smith - who has very little of his 2019/20 contract guaranteed. If I was Milwaukee, if it takes a max contract to keep Middleton - let him go.

So Milwaukee does in fact use that pick to dump Snell. They do it for Leuer rather than Smith - I guess they couldn't get Cleveland to do my suggestion. Leuer's salary is only about 2 mil less than Snell's this season, but the big savings is the season after. Also, the Bucks save about 2 mil by not having the pick, and they likely stretch Leuer's salary. Do they follow this up with an Ilyasove trade? That would hurt their depth, but it is time for them to see what DJ Wilson can do. Hopefully Bonzi Colson gets in better shape and contributes for them next season. Kinda cool to see that Notre Dame underdog combo of him and Connaughton on the Bucks.

"Look, you never know when you may need to borrow a cup of sugar, maybe some milk or a handgun" - Dan C. from Texas

gambitx777 wrote:I mean I don't think they over paid. Korver is over the hill. Crowder is decent. Allen might get good and that's a late round pick in a weaker draft? Not a bad get but idk they are a stud point guard away from being a real problem in the west and everyone is going all in with GS and KD off the board for next season

JWizmentality wrote:That's kind of a lot for Conley.

Korver is filler, but Crowder is a competent, low-cost starter. Utah gave up 2 first round picks and Crowder for 2 years of an injury prone Mike Conley being paid $33M a year.

gambitx777 wrote:I mean I don't think they over paid. Korver is over the hill. Crowder is decent. Allen might get good and that's a late round pick in a weaker draft? Not a bad get but idk they are a stud point guard away from being a real problem in the west and everyone is going all in with GS and KD off the board for next season

JWizmentality wrote:That's kind of a lot for Conley.

Korver is filler, but Crowder is a competent, low-cost starter. Utah gave up 2 first round picks and Crowder for 2 years of an injury prone Mike Conley being paid $33M a year.

Ouch, that's a lot of money for Conley and a lot to give up, and he's probably lost half a step, but... he's still damn good and exactly what Utah needed in the short-term - allowing them to play Mitchell at the 2 and/or combo guard. Good trade by both teams, imo. Conley might be getting the same kind of break that Marc Gasol got when he was traded to Toronto.

"Look, you never know when you may need to borrow a cup of sugar, maybe some milk or a handgun" - Dan C. from Texas

The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club has acquired a conditional 2024 second-round draft pick and cash considerations from the Miami Heat in exchange for the 44th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, it was announced today. – via NBA.com

Plus the Hawks dealt their #41 pick to the Warriors, for $1.3m plus a 2024 R2 pick. Be interesting to see who they want to target with that pick. I'd been hoping we'd do a deal with Atlanta that brought us a R2 pick.... I imagine they'll use their #35.

Pay no attention to the remarks above. Or, per Ruzious: "PIF, ...the best part of your posts is your tagline."

That's a really interesting idea from New Orleans. It looks like they want to build a winning culture around Zion immediately. No slogging through a couple of 50-loss seasons waiting for your players to develop.

A lineup featuring Ball, Jrue, Covington, Zion would be terrifying on defense. They could draft Goga at #11 to round out the roster. Mix in Ingram for some offense. And they have a boat load of cap room as well.

Amazing how decisive & insightful David Griffin is. The way he actually has a clear idea of what he wants to do & so often comes up with effective plans to make it happen. It'll be educational to watch him maneuver to get that extra pick & make a clear & sound decision about whom to pick with it.

Pay no attention to the remarks above. Or, per Ruzious: "PIF, ...the best part of your posts is your tagline."